Celebrities make big bucks from endorsements, and the financial industry hires them to push its services too. We've compiled a list of five financial products endorsed by some famous faces that you really shouldn't take at face value.

The financial industry is always pushing one product or another with claims it will make money management easier, save you cash, make you safer. But in some cases, the hype hides a less helpful, more expensive reality.

Getting a call from a debt collection agency is bad enough. Getting a call from a phony debt collector trying to scam you out of money you don't owe can be even worse. The scammers are out there: Here's what you need to know to avoid becoming a victim.

To most of us, "debtors' prison" may sound like something straight out of a Dickens novel. But across the country today, predatory lenders are using a legal loophole to manipulate courts into jailing poor citizens who legitimately cannot pay what they owe.

"Octomom" Nadya Suleman has taken on some fairly sleazy jobs to support her super-sized family: reality TV star, stripper, porn actress. But this may be a new low. She's out to become America's most fecund financial adviser, shilling for a payday lending company called OctoLoan.

Despite payday lenders' well-deserved reputations for charging insanely high rates for the short-term loans, if you overdraft your plain-vanilla bank account, you'll get zapped by an even more usurious system.

American consumers are getting savvier, and happier. We consulted the BBB far more often in 2011 than we did the year before, and lodged fewer complaints. But there were still plenty of gripes, and the worst offenders may not surprise you.

Google's ex-CIO has moved from the world of Web searches to the world of high-interest, short-term lending. He says ZestCash.com offers an innovative way to help the poorest borrowers avoid financial emergencies. But is this just a slick veneer putting a shine on the classic payday lending business?

Boo! It's the season of ghosts and goblins, when we like to scare ourselves and each other. But while Halloween frights are generally lighthearted and short-lived, there are some truly scary facts out there regarding our finances -- ones we'd do well to know about and beware of.

More people in Southeast don't have bank accounts than in any other part of the country. The state of Mississippi leads the country with more than 16% of households using cash-and-carry for all their transactions. That's a situation that can keep families from climbing the ladder of success.

Overdraft fees are like a movie monster that just won't die. No amount of public outrage or regulation can slay the beast. But the banks aren't the only ones casting overdrafts in financial sequels: Truth is, consumers keep breathing life into the overdraft dragon.

If you're strapped for cash and need money quickly, an online payday loan can be tempting. But these high-interest loans can lead to financial trouble. Here are some tips on selecting a provider, as well as some alternatives to payday loans.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is there to guard all of us being taken advantage of financially. Turns out, one group that needs extra protection in that arena: those who protect our whole nation -- U.S. service members and their families. And Holly Petraeus is going to make sure they get it.

Members of America's military face threats around the world every day, but it's a domestic threat that has the top brass on the offensive on the home front -- predatory lenders. Here's how the Department of Defense is fighting back.